| Abstract: | This paper presents an experimental investigation of longitudinally welded aluminum alloy I-section columns subjected to pure
axial compression. The specimens were fabricated using 6061-T6 heat-treated aluminum alloy. The test program included 20 column
tests which were separated into 2 test series of different types of welding sections. Each test series contained 10 columns.
All the specimens were welded using the Tungsten Inert Gas welding method. The length of the specimens ranged from 442 to
2433 mm in order to obtain a column curve for each test series. The observed failure mode for the column tests includes mainly
flexural buckling around the minor axis and the major axis by applying support except for one column (ZP1217-1) which buckled
in the local zone and some columns which failed in the weld. The test strengths were compared with the design strengths predicted
by the European Code and China Code for aluminum structures. The purpose of this paper is to present the tests results of
two typically longitudinally welded I-section columns, and to check the accuracy of the design rules in the current specifications. |
